Fated
by NickyM96
Summary: Scully tries to understand Mulder's drive to find Samantha and is shocked at what it means concerning her. Spoilers: Conduit


TITLE: Fated  
  
RATING: G  
  
SPOILERS: Conduit  
  
SUMMARY: Scully tries to understand Mulder's drive to find Samantha and is shocked at what it means concerning her.  
  
Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own therapeutic purposes. They will be returned relatively unharmed to Chris Carter, or whoever wants to borrow them next, when I'm done.  
  
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The voice goes on nonstop. It makes Dana Scully briefly wonder to herself why she's come here. But whenever she closes her eyes, she can hear another endless voice, this one so filled with pain. It reminds her why she's enduring this particular conversation. It makes her remember how lucky she still is.  
  
Ever since that first case in Oregon when Mulder told her about his sister's disappearance, she felt sorry for him. She knew the search for the girl consumed him, but she never really understood how it drove him so until their past case involving the missing teen, Ruby Morris. She felt his burning desire to find the girl had more to do with finding his sister than he admitted. But it wasn't until she listened to the tapes of his hypnosis sessions that she came to realize where it all was coming from. She came here today to try to understand that.  
  
"After that, I realized that, although fun, there are certain places whipped topping has no business being," the voice concludes, tacking on a laugh at the end, which rouses Scully from her mind wandering.  
  
She smiles when she hears the laugh, but it's obvious she has no idea what's supposed to be funny.  
  
"Okay, Dana, what's up? I know you didn't stop by out of the blue just to sit there like a bump on a log."  
  
"I'm sorry, Missy," she sighs, apologizing to her sister. "It's been a tough week. A tough case. I guess I'm still trying to get used to my new job."  
  
"And your new partner," Melissa smirks.  
  
"Shut up, Missy. I told you it's not like that with us."  
  
"Ooh, so there's an 'us' now? And it only took you five months to admit it."  
  
"Missy," Scully growls in warning.  
  
"Fine, I'll stop teasing," her sister grins. "Only if you admit that Foxy partner of yours is what has your panties all in a bunch."  
  
She sighs again, frustrated that she can't keep anything from Melissa. She was just too good at reading her. Mulder is the source of her distress, but not in the way Melissa's thinking. Scully decides to just tell her what's on her mind to clear things up.  
  
"Missy, did you ever wonder what your life would have been like if I'd never been born?"  
  
"No. Although I wasn't thrilled to be getting a baby sister, I didn't exactly have a say in the matter. Mom and Dad couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other," Melissa chuckles. "Besides, we were destined to meet again, dear sister. The cosmos decided that a long time ago in one of our earlier lives."  
  
"You know I don't believe in all of that, Melissa," Scully frowns. "But that's not really what I was asking. What would you have done if something happened to me a long time ago? What if I went missing and was never returned?"  
  
"What's this all about, Dana? This is kind of morbid, even for you," Melissa tries to laugh to lighten the moment.  
  
"Would you have gotten over my disappearance? Could you have gone on with your life?"  
  
"Seriously, Dana. You're making me nervous. I do't want to tempt fate with all this talk of you being dead."  
  
"Not dead," Scully corrects her. "Just gone. Without you knowing where I was or if I were okay."  
  
"I would know," Melissa says after a few moments to think. "You're my baby sister, Dana. I can feel your life force. I'd know if it were gone suddenly."  
  
"You'd search for me? Even after years have gone by?"  
  
"Dana, you're my baby sister. How could I not look for you if I knew in my heart you were out there?"  
  
She nods, thinking again about Mulder. That's how it is for him. He believes with all his heart that Samantha's out there. He won't stop looking for her until he finds her. He's been searching for over twenty years now. Something tells Scully he won't be giving up. That's dedication.  
  
She gasps when she realizes she saw a little of that dedication in his eyes during the case last month when he saved her from Eugene Victor Tooms. It scares her to think of the lengths he'd go through to find her if she ever went missing. But it scares her even more that she feels the same way about him. She stands abruptly, suddenly anxious to get out of there.  
  
"Where are you going, Dana? I thought we were going to have dinner," her sister says, worried and a little bit confused at her strange behavior.  
  
"I have to go. I just remembered I promised to help out at my godson's birthday party tomorrow night, so . . . "  
  
"Yeah, I understand," her sister tells her, walking her to the door and then pulling her into a hug. "I love you. You be careful, Dana."  
  
"I will, Missy. I always am."  
  
"I'm not talking about work. I'm talking about in here." She places her hand over her sister's heart, giving her a knowing smile. "You two maybe just meeting in this life, but your hearts have been waiting for each other. Dana, you and Fox have . . . "  
  
"Don't start that again, Melissa," she pleads, not wanting to hear out loud what she just figured out for herself. Not wanting to give her sister's fate theory any credence.  
  
"I'll let it go for now," Melissa relents. "But I'm not going to just stand by while two souls fight to find each other again. You may not be physically lost, but you are emotionally. And you'll stay that way until you let Fox find you."  
  
"What makes you say that?"  
  
"You two are fated to be together," Melissa says with a serene smile.  
  
"That word again." Scully shakes her head. "I don't . . . "  
  
"I know, I know. You don't believe in fate. It's a good thing Fox does." Melissa gives her sister a wink before closing the door in her stunned face.  
  
Scully stands there for a few moments until her shock wears off and then leaves the apartment building. Her sister is obviously mistaken about this. Mulder is just her partner. She may go so far as to call him her friend, but nothing more. She just wishes she didn't have to work so hard to convince her sister of that fact.  
  
Or herself.  
  
The end. 


End file.
